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It’s no surprise that the current global pandemic has accelerated telehealth’s adoption. More and more patients are looking to manage their care remotely and early indications point to the increased use of telehealth services being here to stay even after economies reopen. That said, you might find yourself asking, “which telehealth services should my organization be offering?”

It’s a fair question considering the various options that exist in the market but we hope to be able to provide some guidance below.

Most of the attention that telehealth has garnered over the past year has focused on using remote technology for synchronous virtual patient visits. During portions of 2020, these visits represented as much as 70% of all patient encounters.

Here’s a familiar story. A new patient sets up an appointment to see a specialist. She has been dealing with her current health issues for years and has built up a shoe box full of prior records. The specialist, however, has no way to capture these prior records and is forced into one of the following options:

• Have the patient bring the records with her to her appointment
• Have the patient ship the records through the mail
• Have the patient email whatever records they can to the practice
• Disregard the prior records and start from scratch

As I am sure you know, your staff are an essential component of your healthcare organization. They bring comfort to your patients, efficiency to your process, and growth to your business as a whole, enabling you to reach more patients in increasingly innovative and life changing ways. So when you are setting up a remote second opinion service, you need to consider how to hire (or choose from within your existing staff) the right team. Since you are here, you likely are wondering what kind of staff do you need to offer remote second opinions, and more specifically, should you hire a dedicated administrator for your remote second opinion program? 

There are a multitude of reasons you may need access to your loved one's medical records. Regardless of the reason, you're likely asking yourself at least one of the following questions: How can I obtain my loved one's medical records? Who has the right to my loved one's medical records? How can I obtain and store my loved one's medical records?